


Whoops

by chaya



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-16 04:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21501976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaya/pseuds/chaya
Summary: "Hey so I had an extra spell and I wanted to ask, um, Nott was saying this stuff that made me think that maybe you-"Beau shoots up in bed, feeling the staff in her hand before realizing that she reached out for it at all. It takes a few seconds of looking around the darkness of the room before she realizes - that was Jester's spell.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Beauregard Lionett
Comments: 101
Kudos: 861





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For [Cait](https://caitercates.tumblr.com/), who is a gem.

“ _Hey so I had an extra spell and I wanted to ask, um, Nott was saying this stuff that made me think that maybe you-_ ”  
  
Beau shoots up in bed, feeling the staff in her hand before realizing that she reached out for it at all. It takes a few seconds of looking around the darkness of the room before she realizes - that was Jester’s spell. There’s nobody here.

_wanted to ask_

_Nott was saying this stuff_

Shit. Fuck. 

Downstairs, the meandering sounds of the inn are rising and falling. It’s probably only about twenty minutes since she came up here and crashed. Nott’s and Jester’s bed are still empty, dark boxy silhouettes across the room - of course. She leaves the goblin alone for ten minutes and she starts trying to work some kind of match-up magic.

Jester’s sending hadn’t sounded _bad_ , exactly. She sounded unsure, maybe a little anxious? Beau’s stomach twists. It’s just a _crush_ , nothing serious, nothing super extra serious, but it’s absolutely vital that she figure out how to convince Nott to stay quiet, because if Jester finds out and gets uncomfortable and doesn’t want to be friends anymore, Beau doesn’t know what she’ll fucking do with herself.

There’s some scuffling on the steps leading up to the inn rooms. Footfalls. Beau’s fingers curl uncertainly around her staff before leaning it back up against the wall, watching the door as a key slides into the lock and opens it. Belatedly, someone taps on the door a few times before opening it.

“Um, hi,” Jester whispers as she pokes her head in. She’s just a shape against the candlelight of the hallway behind her, the tiny sharp points of her horns sticking out from a halo of soft waves of hair. “I, um, I ran out of, of words in the spell, so I don’t think that made any sense, I’m sorry, the lights are out up here, did I wake you up?”

“It’s fine,” Beau says, voice flat in her nervousness as she tries to read the situation. There’s more footfalls outside.

“WOW,” Nott says scratchily as she bumps past Jester, the door opening further and letting more light in. The little goblin does a messy twirl into the center of the room, clambering up onto her bed with a few failed attempts. “SURE AM HAVING A FUN TIME BEING DRUNK. GOSH. I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING TONIGHT. PROBABLY NOT REAL STUFF!”

They've killed dragons before, and this is the attempt at damage control?

"SILLY ME, ALWAYS DRUNK AND SAYING SILLY NONSENSE!" Nott laughs and loosens the straps on her armor, falling backwards into a soft plop on her bed. "Ha, ha."

Jester, now better lit, seems to be frowning concernedly at Nott.

"Nott, you sure sound tired," Beau says through gritted teeth.

"And DRUNK," Nott adds.

"You should _go to sleep_ and _get some rest_."

Nott wrestles with the too-big quilt for a few moments before covering herself entirely, making Beau suspect that she is almost as mortified as she should be. "Sounds good!" she says, very muffled. "G'night!"


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Beau makes sure to get Nott alone.

"We had a _very_ clear agreement," Beau says, in a voice that makes Nott shrink down a few inches.

"Everything is fine," Nott says quickly. "I didn't actually - she just _inferred_ , wrongfully _inferred_ \- okay, she _rightfully_ inferred, but not because I implied, you know what I mean?"

"Veth Brenatto."

"That's low."

"I'm _very_ low right now." Nott's eyes widen a little, becoming more saucer-like.

"I was only saying how great you are, you know? And that you're probably - that I'm not personally interested in you, but that you'd probably be a great girlfriend, to _someone_."

Beau's hands curl into frustrated claws. "Nott, imagine if like, okay, I'm _not doing this_ but imagine if I let slip to... imagine if, what you told me? Imagine if I let slip to that person."

Nott's left eye twitches. "I'd..."

"Kill me?" Beau finishes.

"No," Nott lies.

Beau huffs. "You'd shoot me at the very least."

"Mine's way different, anyway. Mine's _over_. Mine's been over for a long time and now that I _know_ him, I'd never ever have those feelings." Nott jabs a finger toward Beau. "You're still feeling yours, right?"

Beau does a full turn in place, looking around the main level of the inn. The others haven't come downstairs yet, but the innkeeper's brother in law is wiping down some tables, pretending not to listen. It may just be the fact that one of the people talking in hushed whispers is a full-on goblin, but Beau isn't going to risk it. This guy might have great hearing and love hot gossip.

"Just stop trying to help, and stop trying to do damage control."

"I have a cool tattoo now, I should be _better_ at lying."

"You're not. Your default is drunk, so we know when you're fa-" Beau looks up as someone descends the stairs. Thankfully, it's only Caleb.

"Morgen," he greets sleepily. "Are we eating breakfast here?"

The subject is tabled. With any luck, permanently.

**

It is not tabled permanently.

**

They're off the side of the road, getting some lunch together, when Beau notices Jester following Nott on the firewood expedition. Nott looks like she doesn't want the company, but also doesn't know how to shake her.

"What's going on with those two?" Fjord asks, following Beau's gaze. "Jester's been hounding Nott about something since we got on the road this morning."

Fuck. "What!?"

Caleb doesn't look up from his book, but he does lift a finger like a man whose theory has been proven correct. "There _is_ something going on."

Beau adjusts her volume a little and tries to look like someone who's not possibly in deep shit. "I don't know about it."

Caduceus puts a large, soft hand on her shoulder. "It's understandable to value privacy, but if there's already a cat halfway out of the bag in a group this small... you might as well consider that cat out of that bag."

"There's no cat," Beau argues.

"Mow," Frumpkin says indignantly.

Beau glares at Caleb, who she knows must have made Frumpkin do that. His poker face is much stronger than hers.

**

Except then there's owlbears, and Jester and Nott run back yelling with claw marks everywhere, and Caduceus has to do some very smooth Grave Cleric thing that keeps Fjord from getting ripped to shreds. Everyone forgets about gossip for a few hours after that.

**

And then there's a weird cave. They find some people in there that turn out to need help back at their village to the east, and that's a good distraction, and Beau feels pretty secure that she's out of the woods now.

(Except, very much in the literal woods, which is where they found the cave, and also where their shitty village is. But that's beside the point.)

When they bed down that night, it's in the mayor's living room, the least drafty space they could find that would fit them all. They're too exhausted to gossip or even talk. Beau throws a quilt into the corner, smooths it out a little, and lays down on her side. The last thing she sees before she falls asleep is Jester pulling the sofa cushions onto the floor, making a nest for herself. There's hair in her eyes and she looks tired, but dreamy too, like the day has taken it out of her but all she can see is how good this sleep is about to be.

Beau nods off.

**

"I have a _question_ ," Jester says, days later when they are wining and dining at a Duchess's estate after successfully ridding said estate from violent beasts.

Beau is barely paying attention. She's only one ale in and the cute maid just put down a second; dark amber and with the faint aroma of hops. "Yeah," Beau says ambiguously, bringing it to her lips and taking a sip. Ooh. This one's _different_. This one... is this a stout? This is good.

"... and so, you know, we've been busy." Jester pauses. "Beau, are you listening."

Beau looks over, blinking once before starting to re recalibrate her focus. Jester wants to talk. Beau wanted to get drunk and relax after kicking a bunch of six-legged monster wolves to death, but Jester takes precedence in most cases. "Sorry. I was in Booze Mode."

Jester grins, cheeks going a little pink.

"I'm with you now, I'm with you." Beau makes a point of setting the drink down, although her fingers remain curled around the handle of the stein. "What's up? You good?"

"I'm good," Jester reassures. "Caduceus's prayer thing fixed me all up. I was just, you know, talking about a, a different thing than the wolves and all that."

"Okay," Beau says, because Jester seems to need some sort of confirmation before she can resume... whatever she was talking about. Now that Beau's really paying attention Jester seems to be more reluctant, somehow.

"I just, I was wondering... I was _wondering_ , you know?" Jester's hand comes up and her fingertips sneak under the collar of her blouse, to the edges of where her tattoo starts at her shoulder. This is a new nervous thing that's started up ever since they got those tattoos - Jester seems to touch hers for support sometimes, like the cloak design might give her a little Traveler boost when things are uncertain. What's uncertain, though?

"Wondering's, um, normal," Beau assures flatly. "Lots of uncertain shit in the world."

"Like _six-legged wolves_ with _fangs_ that are-"

"I thought this wasn't about the wolves."

"It's not, it's not." Jester looks down at her wine glass, lips twisting into a moue. "I just, I thought I figured something out, and then I wasn't sure, so I guess, I don't know, I'm not very experienced in this stuff and I always seem to mess it up, so I wanted to ask."

"You can ask me anything," Beau says, as smooth as you like. She says the entire sentence before realizing what this might be about and beginning to go into panic mode.


	3. Chapter 3

But Jester looks relieved, like that kind of explicit permission is exactly what she needed. "Okay, okay okay okay, good." She huffs in a breath and smiles, big with teeth, but there's tension around the eyes and Beau knows what's coming. "Um, Beau, do you _like_ me?"

Beau leans back a few inches and puts on her 'get real' face. The face that's gotten her through half-baked plans of mail fraud, wine fraud, basically all kinds of fraud. "You're my best friend," she evades with cool confidence. As if Jester had asked if rain comes from the sky, or if Caduceus gets excited about new kinds of lichen.

"You're - you're mine too," Jester says, and she's heartbreakingly quiet, the way she says it. Shit. Jester really cares about her. Jester really doesn't want to ruin this friendship. _I don't either_ , Beau thinks desperately. _Help me not ruin this friendship_.

" _DEAD_ people!?" The Duchess cries from across the room, in a mix of shock and delight. Caduceus is smiling patiently, holding out one of his teacups to her. Did he go into the kitchens and make a pot during all this? That firbolg has no idea when to sit down and just get waited on, but gods bless him for creating a brief distraction.

Fjord is at a nearby table, reaching a hand out toward the Duchess with a pained expression, like he wants to get the tea out of the her hands so she doesn't even have to set the cup down. Nott sizes up the quiet stillness in the room before beginning to make a slow, deliberate, and very familiar reach to sweep the serving plate of rolls into her bag in case they get kicked out.

The Duchess stares just a few more seconds at Caduceus with great incredulity. Everyone waits. Finally, seeing that the firbolg is serious, she cackles delightedly. "You and your compatriots really are a breath of fresh air."

"Thank you," Caduceus rumbles with a smile. The Duchess smiles back, sticks her chin out just a touch, visibly suppressing a giggle as she brings the teacup to her lips.

"Beau," Jester says, drawing her back. She sounds quiet, still. Serious. She wants a straight answer.

Beau takes a steadying breath and turns back to her friend, giving a look of mild surprise like she thought she'd said enough. Fuck, she's had to do this too many times. Usually the crush was just some other urchin with a silver spoon in their mouth, some dumb rebellious chick who wanted to make a few coins by fucking over their good family name.

Jester's not that. She's never been that. It's so much _harder_ to lie to her, and it's so much _more_ to lie about, somehow, in ways that Beau's been trying not to look at straight on. Like an eclipse you still have to just peek at the edges of.

We're cool," Beau reassures with a quick gesture. "I don't - I mean, you know me. I'm into no-strings stuff, little flings? I don't get, like... you're asking about _like-_ liking, right? I don't really do that. You're great, don't get me wrong, I just don't..." She waves her hand around dismissively. Beauregard Lionett, Queen of Whams Bams Thank You Ma'ams. Queen of No Long Term Relationships Ever. Queen of Definitely All of That is On Purpose and Not Because She's Never Figured Out How to Do Anything Else.

"Okay," Jester says, nodding. Bullet dodged. Beau can breathe now. Beau can stop panicking and go back to this stout.

It takes Beau a few seconds of pure relief at having gotten through that to notice that no, it's _not_ okay.

Evidence for Not Okay: Jester is still nodding, nodding too much, and looking down at her wine glass and then at the far wall, over there, just _around_ , like she's gotta pick places to look. She's stopped talking. Jester is _quiet_. There's food and sweets and drinks everywhere, there's someone playing violin in the corner, and none of these things are apparently powerful enough to counter whatever is Not Okay. Beau's gut twists a little. She could have sworn she convinced her, but something's not clicking, there's no 'oh good, let's move on and try those cookies', no 'okay great, I love being friends with you', nothing, just this... quiet.

Jester's blinking a lot suddenly.

"I'm serious," Beau says, leaning forward and putting a reassuring hand on Jester's shoulder. The cute dress she swapped into for this party is some kind of mauve silk, and Beau can feel her muscles tighten away from the touch. _Shit_. "Don't worry, I really don't like you like that. You don't have to like, worry? Are you worried?"

"I'm not worried," Jester says, voice cracking.

Beau feels it physically. Her gut, her heart - this is _agonizing_. "Hey, hey, what's wrong? We're okay, we're - Jes, we can talk about anything, right? Tell me what's-"

"I gotta go upstairs." Jester wobbles to her feet, struggling with her heels a moment. Beau knows she isn't drunk, so she just has to be _that upset_ , and Beau gets up too, about to follow her, when Jester finds her balance and pushes her hair away from her face, fixing it, taking a breath, walking out the door and clearly not wanting to be followed.

Beau stares after her. After a few seconds, the melody of the violin floats back into her consciousness, and then the light conversation, the sound of the Duchess's son laughing, glasses clinking. Turning to look at the rest of the room, it looks like Caduceus has the Duchess well entertained while detailing her new favorite beverage. Fjord is entertaining the kid by changing his face over, making him laugh several times more. Caleb, though, is staring right at her, ramrod straight at his small table.

Beau makes a beeline for him. "I have no idea," she says immediately.

Nott pads over and throws her hands up. "It wasn't me this time."

Caleb points to the door. "What is this? Is this the thing?"

"What thing?" Beau asks unconvincingly.

Caleb makes an annoyed face at her, impatient. "The - Caduceus's cat half out of a bag thing. Is this that thing." Nott looks like she's about to answer in the affirmative, but closes her mouth at the last minute and looks up to Beau.

"I thought I just _fixed_ the cat thing," Beau hisses, bristling a little. "I don't know why she's still upset."

"Still? She _wasn't_ upset before." Caleb squints. "She is upset now. Very upset. _Un_ fix it."

Beau throws her hands up. "I don't know what's going on, okay?"

"If you were Fjord, I'd hit you."

"So you're not hitting me because you're sexist?"

"I'm not hitting you because hitting _you_ might actually hurt my hand." Caleb points to the door again. "She is distraught. Go unfix."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your sweet comments!


	4. Chapter 4

Nott pipes up, voice as quiet as she can get it: "Did you tell her the truth?"

"Of _course_ not!" Beau scrubs a hand over her face. "I told her her hunch was wrong, she got really upset-"

"So maybe tell her the _truth_ ," Nott interrupts.

Caleb gets up, muttering, taking his plate with him and moving to the Duchess's table.

"Why?" Beau is maybe spiraling a little. "You think she already knows, she knows I lied, so if I come clean I'll be less of a liar? She's upset because I'm a liar."

"She's-"

"Because she already knew that I lie but I haven't lied to _her_ so I get that, it's worse, I'm not just a generalized liar, I'm a friend liar, I lied to my _friend_ , if it's the lying thing and not the crush thing then I can maybe figure out how to talk her down and everything can go back to-"

Nott clambers up onto her feet on the dining chair, reaching up and covering Beau's mouth with her hand.

"Mph," Beau acknowledges.

"I'm not telling you what to do, okay, I'm not telling you what to do. _But._ " Nott puts a finger up on her free hand. " _Maybe_ she... got upset when you lied because... she believed you?"

"Mph," Beau responds with great skepticism.

"Listen, she was brought up in the Chateau, it's not like she's too narrow-minded or something." Nott shrugs. "Lying to her clearly didn't work, so maybe try the only other option you have."

"Mph," Beau concedes.

Nott pulls her hand away. "Okay. Okay. You got this, right? Last week we fought an ooze and you kicked it off a cliff."

"I did. I did kick it off a cliff."

"I still wish we'd gone down to the bottom and seen what it looked like after it-"

"- _yeah_ it was like terminal velocity at the end there, was it a big spludge or was it a million little-"

"-we gotta focus. Focus. You're gonna go find Jester."

"I am," Beau agrees. "Wait, I am? Yeah, I gotta."

Nott nods. "You're gonna do fine."

"Do I really have to confess? I-" Beau gestures. "It's not just selfish, here. If I fuck up this friendship, that could mess up, like, team dynamic-y... I don't know."

"I say tell her," Nott says firmly. "I've got a good feeling."

"Okay." Beau takes a big breath. "I'm gonna do this. I can do this." She straightens as she feels someone rubbing her shoulders, encouraging her. "Fjord?"

"I don't know what's going on, I just saw you trying to psych up for something and I came over to be supportive."

Nott makes a face as if to say, 'Yeah, basically.'

**

There's a long hallway that leads to their suites - thank god she wore trousers to this shindig and not some dress she couldn't run in. Beau's only about a third the way down the hall when she sees a very discombobulated attendant standing in front of a closed set of doors. Those doors had been open before. What had it been, a library?

"Hey, have you seen a blue tiefling in a pinkish purplish dress?"

The man blinks several times and immediately turns to look at the closed doors. Beau begins to walk past him, but to her surprise the man throws a lanky arm up like a bar. "No! No no," he says hastily. "The lady was very clear that I was to, um, to 'get lost' and to leave her to herself."

So Jester's definitely in there. "She's upset," Beau says, whacking upwards at his wrist to make his arm go flying back. He actually stumbles a little.

"Yes, the lady is certainly upset. I really, ah," he sounds more informal now, like someone stepping out of their duties to convey important but slightly gossipy information. "I really would not go in there. She is quite a mess."

Beau winces. "Yeah... I think that may be my fault."

"Oh! Oh...? Ah." He's looking over her several times. "Yes, that tracks. Ahem. Good luck."

Beau watches the attendant trot off, and then looks back at the closed doors. Fuck. She's gotta do this. Part of her feels a thrill - _maybe Nott was right, maybe she wants the truth_ \- but it's hard to hold on to that possibility for more than a few seconds. Beau's had too many hard lessons about taking feelings seriously. And about sharing said feelings.

Jester's in there and being sad, and Beau may be able to fix it. She should focus on that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, but we're wrapping up and have a chapter count now. Thanks for everyone's support <3


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey," Beau says, knocking a few times. "I'm comin' in."

There's a soft murmuring on the other side of the door that Beau can't quite make out. Then, "I'm fine." Definitely Jester.

Beau turns the handle and scoots in, shutting it quickly behind her in case there are any more attendants running around in the halls. It takes her a few seconds to look up from the fancy rug on the floor, but when she does, Beau can see that Jester's been crying. Her eyes are a little red, a little wet, and she's gathered up the folds of her dress and tucked herself into the little reading bench thing in the corner. It doesn't look like it's meant for two, and Beau doesn't want to get too in her space right now, so she just. Hovers.

And Jester was supposed to say something now. About how she's feeling, or about how Beau fucked up, but she doesn't say anything at all. She just looks down at the toes of her heels, just barely peeking out from underneath the hem of her dress.

Beau shifts on her feet. "Um. Were you talking to someone?"

"Huh?"

"When I was knocking."

"Oh." Jester waves dismissively and looks over at one of the bookshelves. "The Traveler was giving me advice."

Huh. "What was he saying?"

She shrugs, twisting her hands in her lap. "That I am _beau_ tiful and _love_ ly and that I will find someone who will _trea_ sure me, one day, and do I want him to exact anything up _on_ you..." She trails off.

"Wh, um, what'd _you_ say?"

"I said no, you don't have to worry. He offers that kind of thing sometimes, he is just being silly to cheer me up, I think." Jester rubs her nose. She won't look at her.

"I'm. Really sorry, Jes. I never meant to hurt your feelings."

"It's okay, don't apologize." Jester sniffs and pulls a handkerchief out from somewhere, blowing into it. If this wasn't such a miserable moment, Beau would swear she'd blown that loud to be funny. Beau hides her smile behind her hand. God, she's in deep.

Beau gives herself a second to figure out what to say. "You know I wouldn't lie to you under normal circumstances, right? Like, I know I'm a piece of shit and all, but you're really important to me and I don't want you to..." She scuffs her foot against the stupid fancy rug. "I feel really bad. I fucked up."

In her peripheral vision, Beau can see Jester pocketing the handkerchief. "I don't understand. I mean, I _do_ understand, you're really important t-to me, too. But the lying - wait," and her voice pitches up, to its very peak, "were you _lying_ earlier!?"

Beau winces. "But I _wouldn't,_ normally, is the thing I really want you to get. Okay? I really don't... I don't know what I'd do if you didn't feel like we could be friends anymore and I'm trying not to freak out about it. And so I'm gonna do the 'you don't have to feel the same way' spiel in a second, and 'we can just go back to how we were', it's fine, seriously, I just would fucking hate myself if you trusted me and I fucked that up. I don't know. I don't know how I should have dealt with this but I know I did it wrong." She kind of wants a handkerchief now. She's not crying, but her nose is itching in that way that means she kind of wants to. God, this rug sucks.

And Jester just. Doesn't say anything. Which _also_ sucks. Beau gives her some time in case she's coming up with the right way to rip her a new one, because Beau deserves that, but nothing comes and finally the silence is just too much.

"Can you please let me know if everything's okay between us?" An idea. "Or, going to be okay?" Beau can wait if it'll take a while to regain trust. She's had to do that before.

"I'm." Jester sniffs again. "I'm trying to figure out if you were lying when you said you didn't like me, or if you're lying _now_ saying you _do_ like me because I got all upset. Or you're lying because you're scared the Traveler will kill you."

Fuck. "Jes, real talk, is the Traveler gonna kill me?"

" _No_." Jester says it like she's very confident in her well-trained dog to not jump in someone's lap. "But you guys get really weird about him sometimes so I'm not sure if that's why you... and... you haven't been looking at me hardly at all since you came in here."

"I really don't like that I made you upset." Beau's voice cracks a little.

Jester's quiet.

"I really _am_ telling the truth now." Beau crosses her arms over her chest. "I didn't tell you because I was scared, and I lied when you asked me because I was scared. Okay?"

A beat. "Okay."

Beau's head snaps up. "Really?"

Jester looks like she's thinking hard, lips pressed together. "But you have to say it now, the truth. The whole thing."

What whole thing? Beau glances at her, heart thudding in her chest, grateful for a direction that might grant her some leniency but also confused as to where the hell she's supposed to go. "I _like_ you, Jester." She digs her fingers into her arms. "I think you're really funny and sweet. And I like how you don't take everything so seriously... I think it's cool that you went straight from living at home to just fucking shit up. Like, I got lessons. You just came out and started adventuring and fighting all on your own." She feels like she's out of air. Laying this much out on the table feels like a slip-up, like she's taken off every piece of armor and let herself be exposed. "Do you... is that what you meant?"

There's a shuffling of fabric - Jester is shifting on the little reading bench, meeting Beau's eyes with singular purpose. "And so you _like_ -like me?" She presses.

Jeez. "Yeah," Beau makes herself admit.

"Because I'm..."

Beau barks out a laugh, unable to hold it back. Of _course_ Jester would press for compliments. Of _course_. And the way she's doing it, maybe Nott was right, maybe she's not just doing this for the ego boost, maybe she... "I think you're cute, but you're also... ripped, which is amazing. I... like your hair, and the cute outfits you wear when we're destroying stuff." Jester giggles then, _delightedly_ , and it makes a shot of lightning go right through Beau, pulling a smile out of her, even a blush. "So, yeah."

"He was right," Jester whispers. "The Traveler _also_ told me that you really did like me, but I figured he was just saying that part to make me feel better too."

Something to latch onto there. "So that's what you wanted to hear?"

Jester's cheeks are flushed purple as she looks back at her shoes for a second, nodding, fangs out as she fails to hold back a bashful grin. "When I thought before, that maybe you liked me... I really wanted it to be true. And... you do..."

Beau feels like she's floating a little. "Do I get an awkward speech about why you like me back, or was that just for you?"

Jester gets to her feet, swishing her dress around her and getting just a tiny, _tiny_ bit into Beau's space. It feels scary. Great. Both. "I was just gonna kiss you, actually, but I can talk instead if you want."

Whoa. "I mean, you do whatever you want to do." Beau can't wipe this stupid grin off her face for the life of her. Jester's hair is in a little disarray, and her cheeks are still tear-stained, but she looks _happy_ , glowy, freckled cheeks and bright eyes. It's adorable. "Um, whatever order, or skip one, combine 'em, it's up to-"

Jester's lips brush her cheek, just a glance, like Jester went on tip-toe and nearly lost her balance doing it. Beau reaches out reflexively, grabbing her hips and steadying her. "Shitballs! That was supposed to be romantic. Shit. Shit."

Beau lurches forward in laughter, almost knocking heads with Jester. "It was romantic," she promises. "You did great."

"Usually the book has a girl and then a _super ripped_ guy, who can like, dip her and smooch her for hours, but I didn't want to keep waiting for you to be the ripped guy so I-" Jester gesticulates, getting a little distracted by Beau's hands on her. Beau squeezes gently, more of a close-up hug than anything else, but Jester's eyelashes flutter and she scooches just a little closer, until her chest is brushing against Beau's. "Can we at least do the rest of the book?"

Beau's mind is alight with ideas - positions, mental images, techniques, and then, a small but irritatingly logical voice saying something else. _She's new to this. She's only had the books._ "Um, maybe, maybe over time we can-"

" _BEARS!_ " Nott screeches, throwing open the door.

Jester leaps back and Beau takes on a defensive stance by reflex. Nott's covered in fur, grime, and the same pink icing that was all over that cake they were supposed to eat at the end of the party.

" _SIX LEGGED_ _BEARS. FIGHT NOW, ADMIT GAY STUFF LATER, OKAY?"_ Nott peels out and down the way they all came, hoisting her crossbow. Jester actually starts running after Nott before Beau can collect herself and start moving again.

"So is it six legs and no arms, or six legs and two regular arms?" Jester's asking as she disappears around the corner.

" _SIX TOTAL LIMBS!_ " Nott's yelling.

"So technically four legs and two ar-"

" _JUST COME HELP! WHERE'S BEAU!?_ "

Beau runs a hand through her hair and starts dashing. "Comin'!"

They'll table it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3


End file.
